Since it first began to be handed out in 1958, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awards have been the standard bearer for excellence in a raft of Indian scientific research. This year, too, the awards — announced after a year’s delay — honoured stellar work in biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, medicine, engineering, and earth, atmosphere, ocean and planetary sciences. They covered a wide swathe, ranging from research on organic molecules, neutrinos and autoimmunity to ways to mitigate seismic effects and historical trends in hydrological factors, even if the all-male list raised questions about gender bias and structural discrimination in science. But even as the award was given out this year on Tuesday, this newspaper reported that the government is thinking of doing away with the ₹5 lakh cash component from next year. The logic offered for scrapping the financial aspect of the award was even more curious — officials appeared to believe that scientists need to work for the “love” of science, not cash incentives.
This logic is fallacious. Scientists need robust support from the State. Top science awards across the world — think of the Nobel Prize — use money as one way to honour the contribution of scientists. This is why the best talent in any field is lavished with grants and financial support. Science is critical for national development and needs to be backed with adequate infrastructure, opportunities, and yes, incentives in the form of money and honours. Myopic steps such as these only threaten to take the sheen off the venerated awards. There is no space for vague moralising in science’s single-minded pursuit of fundamental truths.
